While it was cool to get the inside look. I have to ask did you get to talk to them on any inside viewpoints? Like you mentioned Haymarket was to have market vendors. Since the Big Dig technically ended several years ago, why is it being built now? Or questions that keep bothering us so much, like their reasoning for refusal to do cheap upgrades like signal priority to the Green Line? Or any other internal insight rather then the speculation we tend to make every time we hear the weekly/semi-daily story of the dead trains.
Yes and no. On one hand, I really wanted to get some answers to burning questions; but on the other hand I didn't want to piss anyone off when they were going out of the way to show us around.
I asked about air rights development at the HOC. I specifically mentioned Fenway Center, but also asked about other parcels and some failed proposals (Columbus Center). The answer I got was basically that they're willing to work with anyone and their only criteria is that the decks be held to the same standards as their tunnels as far as air in-flow, exhaust, lighting, etc. I mentioned that adhering to those regulations is cost prohibitive and the person I spoke with seemed to disagree. He believed that these projects tend to fail for a number of reasons (community opposition, financing problems, etc) but not typically because of Mass DOT regulations. I could have debated, but again, I didn't want to piss off my hosts.
I mentioned Green Line signal priority. It's something that they're working toward as it would be a fairly straightforward project with significant improvement. One of the primary concerns is the hurdles they'd face in terms of opposition. Regardless of how minimal the impact would be to motorists (literally seconds), convincing the general public that possibly tying up traffic even a little is a GOOD thing, is not an easy task. It's one that will probably get drawn out to ridiculous proportions. Furthermore, it requires a lot of cooperation between multiple different agencies. That is no easy task either. Again, something that they support, but not as easy as it should be to implement.
I didn't ask about the Haymarket space. I didn't want to go there. That one was just too glaringly obvious. Again, I didn't want to piss these people off.
As far as other internal insight, I did get the impression that environmental issues are the biggest hurdles for most projects, especially potential extensions. The Green Line ext. and the Blue Line to Lynn (as well as South Coast Rail) are the biggest examples. No one I spoke with was particularly fond of the Army Corps. who apparently bring these processes to a screeching halt. Wetlands are the biggest environmental hurdle and both extensions (Green and Blue) have to deal with them. An existing railbed through wetlands (even if it's in use by other types of rail) does not mean that an extension is clear. Turns out the Army Corps has to spend months (sometimes more than 12) looking into this stuff which is seemingly black and white to most of us. Furthermore, the threat of legal action, even by a single person, can cause major delays. Every proposal has at least one crazy opponent who threatens legal action for something that would be ridiculous to most of us.
As far as broken trains it's as simple as money. They have a finite amount of funds and it gets spread to priority projects which sometimes comes at the cost of other segments of the MBTA. They acknowledged that they need new vehicles on all lines. However, you have a lot of people competing for a limited amount of money. New Blue Line cars a few years back were a huge victory.
Overall, the general tone I got was that these people were just as frustrated with delays and seemingly the lack of progress as we are. Maybe even more so. And this wasn't a one time thing. I don't work for Mass DOT, but these are all people I will be in tough with fairly regularly. As I get more comfortable, I'll ask more pressing questions.